Our friend Ross Webb came out to do our last check on the Gospel of Mark. He knows Bislama, the common trade language throughout Vanuatu, which a lot of our people know, so he was able to communicate in that language.
One of my tasks in the Bible translation work is to work with my language helper, Alice, to take what has been translated into Rral and write what it is saying into Bislama. This is a good check for Houghton and I to see what the Rral is saying and make sure it is communicating clearly. Outside consultants who come, like Ross, also use the back-translation to prepare comprehension questions and meaning checks. Ross asked questions of the participants. They then discussed in language what the passage was saying and let him know in Bislama whether it was clear or unclear and said what it was communicating. Ross did a Bible translation in the 90s in Papua New Guinea so he is familiar with the process and knows the areas where his language group struggled to communicate clear meanings. He has also worked in Vanuatu for 15 years so knows common misunderstandings and cultural issues here.
Each day of checking was held in different villages with people who were not involved in the translation of Mark, so it was also good PR for us to get people hearing God's Word in their language and talking about the translation.
The other benefit of having people not involved in the original translation is that they have no investment in how the translation was done, so rather than taking for granted that it communicates clearly, they can share if something is wrong or sounds funny and are not offended at any changes made.
We are thankful for the full week Ross spent digging into Mark with us and for all the local people who showed up to help in this last check. Now just for those last spelling, punctuation, formatting, and other fixes before we get it published (adding illustrations and headings, adding footnotes and a glossary, etc).
Thanks for praying for us as we continue to work to get God's Word in the hands of the people of North Ambrym!
Elder Harre, our main contact in North Ambrym, and one of our faithful translators, asked Houghton a few months ago if we could have literacy classes based in our village of Ranvetlam. He asserted that at least the village where the Bible translation office is located should be literate enough to be reading God's Word! So of course we agreed! I had brought up the idea of literacy classes with a local chief several months before, but it wasn't ever brought up in a village meeting. This was encouraging, however, to have local interest drive something we've wanted to have happen!
Elder Harre introducing the importance of literacy to the kids.
Houghton suggested then that we have something to pull the kids together, followed by the classes, and then a devotion.
Wednesdays Houghton does a volleyball workshop with village girls before they come to literacy class.
Fridays he leads a boy's soccer training before the boys' literacy class. The kids are loving it.
Teaching a mixed class of boys and girls.
Practicing writing their first letters in the Rral alphabet.
A friend of ours, Steve Armytage made dozens of chalkboards for us and Grace Bible Church in Miles City provided us hundreds of socks that we use for erasers, so all we had to buy was the chalk!
So far just kids from Ranvetlam have attended, but kids from surrounding villages have been invited.
A post-class game with Houghton.
Houghton leading a devotional.
Every other Sunday the adults come for their classes. The alternate Sundays is a youth/men's study led by Houghton. Adults have come from our village of Ranvetlam, as well as surrounding villages of Faramsu, Lonorrorr, and Melto.
We do the same lessons with kids and adults, using the curriculum (called a Primer) that I developed for teachers to teach elementary kids in our language group. It starts with most commonly used letters in the language and teaches one letter per lesson.
Jesiah has helped me develop funny videos of preliteracy skills (like how to turn pages carefully and how to store a book) that I show in the classes. The kids have liked these, and they are so helpful because having books and reading them is not a normal part of Vanuatu culture. He isn't comfortable in the local language of Rral, so he records these in Bislama, the trade language, which most of the kids know.
Please pray for continued interest and motivation for reading in our village and the surrounding ones, that people will be well equipped to read God's Word as it is distributed to them over the years in their language.
And now for several unrelated pictures showing our life on Ambrym...
Having fun with our teammates, the Ellis' during one of their weekend stays.
When boys were playing soccer one day (fortunately not during one of Houghton's trainings!), a young boy, Taaso, was injured. Houghton was able to stabilize him before he headed on a boat to the clinic north of us. Nothing is private here!
Jesiah and his friends waiting for transport to take little Taaso off to the clinic.
Kaiden and friends playing on the tire swing.
My new kitty, Jojo, and Jesiah's bird, Bluerie chumming together. They will go and come to Vila with us so we don't have to ask people to care for them for us when we're away. Having pets isn't common in Vanuatu.
Our other cat, Bluetooth, didn't accompany us to Vila when we went to Australia, and went a bit feral, so he mostly prowls for mice outside the house, while Jojo catches and devours every spider, cockroach, skink, gecko, and bug in the house for us.
Jesiah, Gwen, and Addy returned to Vanuatu with me at our planned time but Houghton and Gretchen stayed back in Australia for 2 weeks for some appointments with Kaiden. We had a nice time in Vila together before Hought and Gretch returned and heading back to Ambrym.
On the plane with the kids. The flight attendant spoiled them shamelessly! They and 2 other kids were the only kids on the flight and apparently he has a soft spot. They got extra drinks, snacks, and visits from him to make sure they were comfortable.
Our arrival in Vila.
Gorgeous sunset.
The kids figured out a way to make jumping down to the step below look like they were jumping into the water, and practiced it tirelessly.
At the waterfront for a picnic with our local friends Edwin and Janet, and their boys Jared and Jotham.
The kids were so conscientious, even organizing a dishes schedule where I didn't have to do them except on weekends! Houghton and Gretchen have trained them well. :)
At the airport waiting for Houghton, Gretchen, and Kaiden's arrival.
Because of our Bible translation training in Australia in 2009, we have churches that pray for us and support our work here, and some great friends there as well. Our last visit to Australia was way back when Kaiden was born, 4 1/2 years ago, so it was fantastic to get to go again and catch up with people this last May/June!
A friend of ours invited Gretch and I to a ladies' Bible study that meets weekly. They are great prayer warriors for missionaries so we were so thankful to get to share and are grateful for their prayers!
Delicious snacks afterwards!
All the praying ladies.
Visiting my friend Nadia. She is a lovely lady and I'm so thankful I could see her a few times!
Visiting friends the Armytages, who worked in Vanuatu a few years. They have 4 boys who are Jesiah's besties so he was overjoyed to be able to hang out with them for a day.
Hanging out with the Hughes-Gage clan.
We were able to share with several churches while in Australia. Here are some congregations Houghton got pictures of. Not pictured is Watsonia church. We were encouraged by old friends, and meeting new ones as well.
Rockbank church.
Craigiburn church.
Albion church.
We got to do some fun activities with friends as well.
Our fantastic hosts (who I never took a picture of - argh!) got a new puppy, Barney. He was great fun to have around the house.
The local library had a type of free Comic Con event, including a fantasy illustration workshop Jesiah and I attended. We learned about drawing dragons, which was a lot of fun.
Light saber lessons - a vital life skill!
Some kind of musical chairs type game.
At a zoo with Australian only animals.
I LOVED getting to feed and pet the little kangaroos. They smell surprisingly...good.
Very impressive park.
Rollerskating!
A very fun science museum.
Gorgeous area outside a local mall/shopping center.
Kaiden would have been happy to do this ALL....DAY...LONG. :)
Feeding goats at a local park.
On a hay ride at a local park.
Beautiful countryside!
The girls and I started going through a puberty book in Australia together. So of course we had to go get ice cream or something fun whenever we read chapters!
Jesiah, Gwen, and Addy returned to Vila with me on our planned departure date. Houghton and Gretchen stayed on in Australia 2 more weeks for some appointments for Kaiden. We had fun together traveling and in Vila.
We're grateful to our friends and supporting churches in Australia for their encouragement and fellowship. It was a nice refresher away from Vanuatu for a bit!
